Acknowledgments

The World Monuments Fund wishes to extend its deepest gratitude to all who made possible the series of international missions that resulted in this report: to former St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak and his staff, who invited WMF staff to visit the Alexander Palace; to Deputy Mayor Vladimir Petrovich Yakovlev and City Architect Oleg Kharchenko, who provided valuable insight into the administration and decision-making process for planning the restoration project; to Richard Torrence, Mayor Sobchak's Special Assistant for International Affairs, whose knowledge and contacts with. government officials added considerably to the success of WMF's entry into St. Petersburg; and to WMF trustee Patricia Falk, who has done so much to facilitate the research and meetings that resulted in the launching of this project. Access to the Alexander Palace would not have been possible without the cooperative efforts of the Russian Navy officers stationed at the Alexander Palace and Ivan Petrovich Sautov, Director of the State Museum-Preserve of Tsarskoe Selo. Valuable assistance was also provided by the curators of the Museum-Preserve of Tsarskoe SeIo, the staff of the St. Petersburg Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments, and also by Anna Chetverikova, Elena Ryjova, Evgeniya Dyakova, Nina Zonina, and Yuri Moiseenko, who have performed a multitude of special duties to help make the WMF missions to St. Petersburg as successful as they have been.

Very special thanks are due to Page Ayres Cowley, Scott Duenow, and Ingrid Bernstein of Page Ayres Cowley Architects, LLP, who produced the architectural drawings included in this report using AutoCAD software for the Macintosh, and who lent invaluable assistance in the preparation of the text of this report.

The founder of the Alexander Palace Association and principal author of the alliance of non-governmental organizations formed for the purpose of developing this project is Robert Atchison. Mr. Atchison's knowledge of and affection for the Alexander Palace, and his tireless efforts to conserve this important site, are recognized and greatly appreciated by all who are involved.

This publication was compiled and authored in part by Baron Lobstein from text by John Stubbs, Page Ayres Cowley, and Henry Joyce, with Russian translation by Evgeniya Dyakova. It is an abridged version of the forthcoming World Monuments Fund report The Alexander Palace: Preliminary Proposal for Restoration and Museum Adaptation.

The publication of this report was made possible by grants from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. The fact-finding missions which gave rise to it were generously supported by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Delta Air Lines, and Maritz Travel Company of Fenton, Missouri. Initial restoration work on the roof of the Alexander Palace, which began in September 1996, was made possible by a grant from the American Express Philanthropic Program through the World Monuments Watch program of the World Monuments Fund.